Blog

As of today, we have booked 67 gigs this year! Pretty crazy, but at the birth of our band, our motto was "Always say yes!". I think we might have to change that :) There's a balance we need to find. Playing music means we don't have time to create music, which is a big goal. We want to make an album, but there's a huge dumpster in our front yard and a hole in the backyard that looks like a meteor hit! Those things stare us in the face and demand attention and completion. Somehow writing songs always seems to take a back seat because it's not pressing up against a deadline or a mess. We want to write new songs, but we are always needing to learn new songs, to keep our show fresh! Balance. We have to find balance. Hopefully soon!

The problem with making original music when you're...eh-hemmmm...."older" like we are, is that we aren't yet old enough to be retired, and we aren't young enough to just chase our dreams as an occupation. We are working people, with jobs, mortgages, debt, children getting married, a home that needs improvements, a yard with out of control weeds. There is a lot of life maintaining STUFF to do before we can make it into the studio. Aside from that, we have lots of gigs where we play cover tunes, which we like to do well, which means PRACTICE.

I get frustrated that we can't seem to move forward more quickly towards our goal of at least one all original album before our voices (muscles) atrophy like the rest of our body seems to want to do. I've decided to let it go, let go of the timeline and the pressure I can put on myself, because I want to enjoy this season. I want some quiet moments with Wilson where we aren't creating as much as enjoying creation. This is not yet a garden with crops that need to produce yield. We are seeds. We are sprouting. We don't even know what variety we are yet! Kind of exciting that we are watching our growth with anticipation and wonder, not knowledge and expectation. God is in control and I need to let him be.

Wilson will feel differently. He has a biological musical clock that has been ticking since age 16. He's farther along than he ever imagined he'd be, but far from where he'd like.

However, a milestone was reached today. We finished our first demo CD of 3 songs that will allow venues to hear our sound before they hire us. We chose an older song, a contemporary song, and a mash-up. Drum roll please.....(you can hear it too on the Our Music tab......

Me and Julio

Black Horse and a Cherry Tree

Ain't No Sunshine / Harder to Breathe

Thanks for coming on this journey with us. Without you, we'd still be singing in the shower :)

I love singing with Wilson, but it's not without it's problems. He has a much louder voice than mine, so I struggle to keep up and find myself yelling. Not good. He has a much lower voice than mine (obviously) but if he were more of a tenor or a bass I could stick to one vocal register. As it is I often have to switch between my lower and upper register mid phrase, not to mention song to song. It's not the most ideal, but is there any perfect pairing?

Last night we played our first booked gig. We were nervous but the venue was small and out of town, which provided a bit of a buffer. Pleasantly surprised, we arrived to set up in the barrel room, with vats of grapes ready for the crusher. There were little white lights strung across the barrels and tables for two were set up in a semi-circle around us. Candles were centered on each table and we threw a couple business cards out there for good measure, along with a variety of shakers and noise-makers should anyone wish to partake.

We are here in New Orleans...the Big Easy, except that it is anything but. There is music everywhere, as if notes were money that fell from the sky. From the mouth of every restaurant and bar wafts the melody of a hungry band or musician. Some of them don't even make it into an establishment. They are manipulating their sound under the awning of this building or that, through inundating heat, alternating with torrential rain, thunder and lightening. I have never known weather to be so volatile...but perhaps it helps hone the musicians here from tender hoof to tough nut.